Monday, February 7, 2011

Aluminum brightened their homes

"Jean"

I love writing about "Jean", my maternal grandmother.
She was quite the character. She insisted we call her by her first name since she was "too young to be a grandmother"! 
Never mind... I really did not know that "Jean" was a first name. I just knew that it stood for my grandmother!
She arrive from Italy with her mother and two older sisters 
when she was just nine years old. Someday I need to write
about the adventure of the trip.
Her father met them at the ship at Ellis Island. 
He was already employed by the Ithaca, N. Y. transit system which as I understand included the trolley cars.
The aluminum crumber below was purchased by her
mother. As I remember the story, my great-grandmother
bought it at Niagra Falls about the time aluminum was being used for household items. Jean gave the crumber to me early in my marriage and of course I have always cherished it. 

The aluminum dish, shaped like a leaf, was a wedding gift to my parents when they married in 1946. My mother used it
often in her home decorating. It's definitely a cherished, sentimental piece to me.


I am linking to
Three or More Tuesday

http://www.thegypsyscorner.com/



11 comments:

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Lovely, Karen! It's so nice that you have some things of hers...nd so pretty! I have two aluminum trays that belonged to my mom! Happy week!...hugs...Debbie

Rita said...

Oh Karen, how you must treasure that piece. It is wonderful that you have something that belonged to her. I have a clock that belonged to my great grandparents. I cannot get it to run right now and can't find anyone to work on it, but I treasure it all the same. I'm so glad that you were given this! I'd love to hear the adenture trip!

Robin@DecoratingTennisGirl said...

What a great story, Karen. I love the photo! Great vintage photo.

Deb said...

love hearing about family history...great pieces..

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

I love the pieces I have of my grandmothers too... I have never heard of a crumber! Where have I BEEN?

Hearts Turned said...

Simply wonderful, Karen! Love these family stories, of course! What a beautiful picture of Jean...so glad you shared it!

Hope you're having a lovely day, my friend!

Julie

Julie Harward said...

You remind me so much of my mom...she was the family history person in her family too and wrote many things like this down. What a treasure this will all be for those whoa follow! :D

Handy Man, Crafty Woman said...

Those are great pieces! I just love antiques that have a great story behind them. Thanks for visiting our blog. I'm going to look around your blog some more.

Carrie @ Cottage Cozy said...

Jean is my kind of gal....beautiful aluminum treasures!

Chari at Happy To Design said...

Hi Karen...

Ahhh...what an awesome photo of your grandmother! I loved reading about her...that is so cute that she had you call her Jean...instead of grandma! I love the beautiful aluminum pieces...what treasures! Thanks for sharing them with us...as well as the family memories!

I also wanted to thank you for coming by and taking a peek at my Valentine place setting. You left such a sweet note...just made my heart smile! Thank you, my friend!

Warmest Valentine wishes,
Chari @Happy To Design

Colleen - the AmAzINg Mrs. B said...

How lovely those pieces are! And to have memories of your grandmother..wonderful. Mine were all gone prior to my birth and I've always felt I really missed out! It's only since I started doing some very amateur genealogy that I have any information at all. I do have copies of marriage licenses and draft cards..so I feel very fortunate! Treasure all you have - it will not ever pass your way again!